Woman In a Suitcase*

A friend once described me as "the girl without a home" but I think the opposite is true. I'm not so much home-less as I am home-ful. These past few years, I have lived in my North Dakota farm trailer while also playing houseguest in Colorado, New Mexico, Mississippi, Minnesota, Arizona, Oregon and most especially, Southern California. My license plate is from North Dakota, my mail goes to Long Beach and my cell's area code is all Denver, baby.

And so, the question remains: Where do I live?

Usually, one's residence is tied to a job. Here again, there is no
simple answer. I have not worked in an office since May 2006, right
about the time I gave up the land line and the television. Since then,
it's just been me and my MacBook Pro, my beat up iPhone 4S (also my
wi-fi-hotspot) and Netflix. In this way, all my professional and
cultural needs are met without fuss. I have at least one client who
assumes I work from a fancy office in San Francisco (Why correct them?)
and another who occasionally asks, "What time zone are you in?"
Otherwise, no one needs to know that I have conducted eight-person
conference calls with tractors rolling by my trailer window. The
Internet came along just in time.

But again, this extreme mobility can prove challenging. Recently, I was asked by a media release outlet, "Where is your agency located?"

Turns out, "In my head." was not an adequate response. I tried again. "You know, the agency moves with me. It goes where I go. On my laptop. Whatever. I mean, it's 2015, I can't be the first person who lives like this."

Silence.

"Fine. Los Angeles, then, if that helps."

"Yes, it does," said the woman, shaking her head out there, somewhere.

And so, as I face down the smoking hot barrel of 50 (December!), I am getting signs it's time to slow pace, pick a spot, settle down and be An Adult. I long for my own kitchen, a yard to mess with and a doggie of my very own. Most of all, I badly want to repay all those hosts who opened up their guest rooms, offering fresh towels and keys to their front door. But the Universe has a sick sense of humor, so the biggest sign of all?

SCRANCH BLOG

About Me

Living on the family land in my camper trailer, The Mae Flower, a long, long way way from my former lives in LA, Francisco and Denver. With lots of luck, effort and curse words, I may even grow an organic thing or two.